Horgan abandons principles with Site C decision

When the NDP took office in British Columbia, they identified themselves as champions of human rights, promising to establish “a clear, cross-government vision of reconciliation” and to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

While announcing construction of the Site C dam would continue over the objections of Indigenous peoples, Premier John Horgan portrayed the decision as an unfortunate exception to his government’s commitment to respect human rights. In response to a direct question on the UN Declaration, Horgan didn’t defend the Site C dam. Instead he pointed to other areas where the province would respect and uphold its provisions.

The cynical logic on display here is all too familiar. Governments around the world lay claim to being champions of human rights by pointing to positive measures they take when it is convenient to do so. They must be judged by the exceptions they allow themselves — by whose rights they are willing to trample to protect their public image, curry votes or reward their backers.

Make no mistake: the flooding of the Peace Valley would be a profound violation of the human rights of the First Nations of Treaty 8, as well as local farmers and other landowners.

First, Indigenous peoples have the right under international law to maintain their traditions of living on the land that defines their cultures. These traditions are central as well to the fulfilment of other human rights, including rights to health, livelihood, food and subsistence.

The environmental assessment of Site C found the impacts on the First Nations of the Peace region would be severe, permanent and irreversible. The Peace Valley lowlands are a unique ecosystem central to the cultural life of the Dunne-Za and Cree peoples. That importance is compounded by the many other resource development projects in the northeast, which have left few areas where Indigenous peoples can practice their cultures and traditions.

Second, everyone has a right to due process when their lands and livelihoods are threatened by government decisions. This means governments must carefully consider the alternatives and only uproot farmers and others when there is no other reasonable choice. The government’s rationale for flooding the Peace Valley, resting as it does on debatable claims about a relatively small, short-term cost saving, falls far short of adequate justification for the harm done not only to Indigenous peoples, but also to multi-generational family farmers and other landowners.

Third, as Horgan himself has previously acknowledged, not only would flooding the Peace Valley violate the terms of Treaty 8, the legal implications for whether construction of the dam can lawfully proceed have still never been addressed. International law, including the UN Declaration, is clear that governments have a fundamental obligation to uphold Treaty rights. Conversely, for governments to behave as if respect for the legal rights of Indigenous peoples is optional, or only relevant if First Nations can muster the resources to win in court, rests on a foundation of racial discrimination that is absolutely prohibited in international law.

Governments make tough decisions every day. They are lobbied and pulled in many directions. Campaign promises may be bent or broken under financial and political pressure. However, international human rights instruments like the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples were developed precisely to hold governments to a higher standard, to insist that certain values be respected and upheld in every instance, regardless of the pressures of the day.

Human rights must be respected and upheld, not because it is convenient but because it’s the right thing to do. Anything else would perpetuate unacceptable discrimination and injustice.

This is the standard that the Horgan government should have applied to its decision on Site C. The failure to do so means that they can make no claim to being human rights champions. No matter what they promise to do in the rest of the province, they are clearly violating human rights in the Peace Valley.

Alex Neve is Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada and Craig Benjamin is Amnesty’’s campaigner for the rights of Indigenous Peoples.